Christmas Tree Sales Are Up

Christmas tree farms and stands across the country are already reporting that more Christmas trees are selling so far this holiday season than last year.

“Sales are up approximately 10% on three lots and even on another,” said Lynn Sullivan, of Sullivan Farms Christmas Trees in St. Louis. “Considering the snow and blistering cold weather our lots had a very good weekend.”

Tom Langlais at Spruce Hill Farm in Thomaston, Conn., has a similar sentiment. “Sales up 20%…had to put up the ‘sold out’ sign.”

First-time tree seller John Cartwright didn’t know what to expect when he opened his Grouse Ridge Christmas Tree Farm in Denton Texas, he told the Denton Record-Chronicle. His trees are moving quickly from the lot and he expects to sell them all by December 22nd.

The Christmas tree business is not small. Americans spent more than $2 billion on 40 million Christmas trees last year, according to the National Christmas Tree Association. A seven-foot tree costs some $60 to $100.

Real trees continue to be more popular than the fake ones, according to articles in The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y. and the San Francisco Chronicle. Purveyors say the fresh pine smell is an appeal. Last year the tree association said real tree sales comprised 66% of all sales. (The fake ones can be reused year after year.)

Americans are also buying trees online these days. Though of course the web does not offer you family time strolling the farm or breathing in the fresh air, online purchases sure add convenience. Imagine not having to strap a six-foot tree to the roof of your station wagon because it can be shipped instead? Check out the web sites of Costco, Home Depot. Target and Walmart, for instance.